Magical Hero and Systemic Racism: An Investigation of Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained (2012)

• Published in: University of Chitral Journal of Linguistics and Literature
• Main Authors: Salman Hamid Khan, Irfan Ali Shah, Dr.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Department of English, University of Chitral 2022-06-01
• Subjects: django unchained; quentin tarantino; crt; cultural studies; african-americans; race
• Online Access: https://jll.uoch.edu.pk/index.php/journal10/article/view/421

This paper focuses on one of the most important screenplays, Django Unchained (2012), by the famous Hollywood auteur Quentin Tarantino. The story revolves around the life of a slave family, and Django is the central protagonist, a runaway slave, who had suffered at the hands of the slave owners. The methodology used for the investigation of the portrayal of Django is the textual analysis, given the qualitative nature of the research. The theoretical base of the investigation is the Critical Race Theory, which upholds the pervading and continuous presence of racism against African-Americans, and most specifically, in its institutionalized manifestation. The paper finds that though there are elements of melodrama and surrealism, the representation of Django takes the proto-form of the magical hero. The hero overcomes dire circumstances with the help of Dr. Schultz. The research finds that despite the apparent mainstream representation of the African-Americans, Tarantino did succeed in not only highlights but also contemporariness the racism, discrimination and marginality of the African-Americans.